10 Movie Actors Who Were Discovered In Unusual Ways

Spy Kids and From Dusk Till Dawn star Danny Trejo had an incredibly troubled upbringing. He first smoked weed at eight years old, became a heroin addict as a teenager, and spent most of his early twenties going in-and-out of jail.

Thankfully though, he eventually decided that he needed to improve himself, and it was this positive step that eventually led to the long, varied movie career he's been enjoying for almost 40 years.

Trejo began attending AA meetings while locked up in prison, and when he was released, he continued to attend those meetings, diving head-first into the recovery community. In fact, he eventually became a drug counselor, a decision that was a huge turning point for Trejo, because this is what put him on a collision course with Hollywood.

In the early '80s, he was invited to the set of the Jon Voight/Eric Roberts-starring movie Runaway Train, where he was tasked with helping a young production assistant to overcome his addictions. While there, an old inmate friend of Trejo's recognised him, and - remembering that Trejo was a champion boxer while in prison - asked him to train Roberts for his fight scenes.

Trejo obliged, and was eventually offered a small role in the film by the director. From there, he never looked back - and he's been an actor ever since.